USOC SOCCER: Round One Recap and Round Two Match-ups

The 2019 U.S. Open Cup began play on Tuesday, May 7th and over
the past two days has provided some incredible moments. We’ve seen #Cupsets and
we’ve seen some true dominance by clubs. The most important thing that we’ve
seen though is some fantastic football. The Cup is a chance for football fans
across the nation to see clubs they wouldn’t normally have a chance to see and
all of this exposure, especially since every single match is now being shown on
ESPN+, is huge for our sport. I do want to compliment ESPN and the Open Cup for
the coverage of the tournament, each match that I’ve been able to watch has had
very good commentary and the live streams have looked great.

Before I jump into the recaps, I want to share a few things I
took away from the first round. Across 19 matches between Amateur, USL League 1
& 2 and NPSL clubs there were:

62 Goals

5 matches were decided by penalties – 42 penalties were converted

4 Red Cards

There will be upsets

There’s no way for me to do an in-depth recap of every match. I
wasn’t able watch them all, I mean a guy has to sleep at some point.

Richmond Kickers 6 (USL1) – 2 Virginia United:
Charles Boateng led the way for Richmond with 4 goals on the night. Boateng
became the first player do accomplish this feat since Dom Dwyer in 2015.

New York Red Bulls U23 4 (5) – 4 (3) FC Motown: RBNY
U23 was able to advance after being pushed to penalties against the NPSL side.
Each of the eight goals in regulation was scored by a different player. With
goals scored from the 3rd minute until the 119th, the match was nonstop action.

FC Baltimore 1 (4) – 1 (5) West Chester United: The
Predators advance on penalties in what was their fifth straight knockout match
away from home. Predator forward Troy Amspacher opened the scoring early in the
first half, but Baltimore was able to pull level in the 56th minute when
defender Jake Dengler struck from distance and found the back of the net.

Erie Commodores FC 1 – 2 Dayton Dutch Lions: Dayton
went up early after a mistake from Commodore Craig Quinn managed to knock the
ball into his own net. Erie battled back and leveled the score when Curtis
Strolley put their only shot on target for the night past the keeper. Tate
Robertson would put the Lions back up for good with a goal in the 73rd.

Lansing Ignite FC 2 – 1 AFC Ann Arbor: In
their Open Cup debut, Ignite striker Njeta Nfor bagged a brace, scoring in the
29th and 72nd, and keeper Kyle Ihn made a stunning one handed save late to
preserve the lead. Alex Alexis had pulled the visitors level in the 66th.

Reading United 2 – Philadelphia
Lone Star FC: Jeremy Rafanello managed two first half goals for United which
proved to be the difference in the match. Lone Star was able to score in the
67th on the back of a rebound from Shawn Genus. I’ve read a report stating
there were red cards for both clubs, but I can only see one officially anywhere
so far.

New York Cosmos B 2 – 1Black Rock FC: In what
appeared to be a match headed to extra time, Bledi Bardic found a header six
minutes into stoppage time to snatch victory for the Cosmos.

Lakeland Tropics 1 (7) – 1(8) The Villages SC: The two
Central Florida squared off in what was one of the most even matches of the
first round. Ultimately, The Villages prevailed on penalties.

South Georgia Tormenta FC 2 3 – 0 Chattanooga Red Wolves SC: In
their first match of the year, upset-minded Tormenta FC 2 dominated the USL
League One side Chattanooga. Jarvian Wigfell, Luca Mäyr-Falten and Adrian
Billhardt all scored for Tormenta.

Greenville Triumph SC 1 – 0 South Georgia Tormenta FC: Unlike
their League Two counterparts, Tormenta FC was unable to find the goal as they
lost to League One rivals Greeville Triumph. In what was a fairly even match,
Greenville finally struck home in the 75th on a goal from Cole Seiler.

Miami FC 1 – 2 Florida Soccer
Soldiers: In another upset, the amateur club Florida Soccer Soldiers
pulled out the win over Miami FC. Ariel Martinez put Miami up in the 6th after
a close-range finish. Out of the break, Soccer Soldiers’ William Stamatis was
able to capitalize on a mistake from Miami in the first minute of the half to
pull level. Carlos Freire scored the game winner in the 87th, overcoming a
fantastic effort from FC keeper Mark Pais.

Bavarian SC 0 – 2 Forward Madison FC: The
national amateur champions were unable to upend Forward Madison. On the
strength of two early goals from Brandon Eaton and Jiro Barriga Toyama, Forward
Madison was able to comfortably ride out the rest of the match.

Laredo Heat SC 1 – 0 Brazos Valley Cavalry FC: Laredo
Heat outlasted the Cavalry after a penalty in the 60th. Francois Sakou was
tasked with the shot and was able to put the ball past Cavalry keeper, Andy
Rios. In a very physical match, each side received a red card and Laredo will
be without Jose Luis Hincapie in their next match.

Little Rock Rangers 2 (2) – 2 (4) NTX Rayados: Featuring
in their eighth consecutive Open Cup, Rayados had a tough road to even get to the
match. After a cancelled flight, a four-hour drive and a flat tire, they were
finally able to play. Reece Wilson opened the scoring in the 8th to put Rayados
up 1-0. The Rangers would fight back with goals in the 27th and 40th. There was
a reported red card in this match in the 88th for Rayados. Rayados would level
the score 2-2 five minutes into stoppage time to force extras. The match was
ultimately decided on penalties, with Rayados prevailing.

Des Moines Menace 1 (3) – 1 (1) Duluth FC: The
Menace took the lead in the 9th minute as Ignacio Goya de Anca was able to
volley home a shot inside the left post. Duluth was able to pull level as
Carlyle Dos Santos converted from the spot in the 35th. The Menace were more
composed from the spot during penalties and are moving forward.

Midland-Odessa Sockers FC 1 – 2 FC Denver: In
another upset, FC Denver scored in both the 34th and 89th minutes by way of
Cesar Castillo and Kyle Crouse. Grant Mobley scored for The Sockers in the 64th
to give them a shot, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Academica SC 1 – 2El Farolito: Two
first half goals from Miguel Ángel Garduño and Leonardo Fredes were all El
Farolito needed to finish off Academica. Despite a red card to Walter
Mazzolatti, Academica were unable to take advantage of being up a man and only
managed one goal in the 72nd from Jorge Carmoa.

Cal FC 5 – 1FC Mulhouse Portland: Led by
multiple former MLS players, the California club dominated from the start.
After falling behind 3-0, Mulhouse was able to pull one back, but couldn’t
manage any more than that.

Orange County FC 2 – 0 FC Golden State Force: OCFC
secured two goals from Cody Shelton and Aaron Lombardi going against a very
good Golden State defense.

Short, sweet and to the point. The first round had a lot of
action and there are going to be some interesting pairings in round two. I will
not be including a preview of the New Mexico United match here; we’ll be doing
a separate piece on that.

North Carolina FC vs Richmond Kickers (May 15, 5:30 p.m. MT):
Richmond Kickers are no strangers to U.S. Open Cup competition; they won the
tournament in 1995. North Carolina will have their hands full.

Nashville SC vs South Georgia Tormenta FC 2 (May 14, 5:30 p.m.
MT): Admittedly I’m a bit biased here. I went to school in
Statesboro and to find out that they have two clubs this may come across as me
being a huge homer. Tormenta FC 2 looked very impressive in their first-round
match. I think they could cause some issues for Nashville. I haven’t seen
Nashville play this season, but they currently sit 6th in the Eastern
Conference and look to be a solid club.

OKC Energy FC vs NTX Rayados (May 14, 5:30 p.m. MT): This
could be a trap match for OKC. They actually lost to Rayados last year in the
Cup and will be looking to get some payback. OKC are looking solid this year,
sitting 5th in the Western Conference.

Cal FC vs Las Vegas Lights FC (May 14, 5:30 p.m. MT): In a
battle of the Wynalda clubs, this one could be a real slugfest. While Las Vegas
has struggled some this year, both clubs have the ability to put together a
solid 90 minutes. Eric Wynalda’s fingerprints sill remain on the Cal FC club
and their roster has a lot of MLS experience.

Before the second round kicks off though, we’ll know the possible third round pairings. Those will be announced on May 13th. Round two will be played on May 14th and 15th and all matches will be available to be streamed live on ESPN+.

Image Credit: U.S. Soccer

Seth Biddulph is a beat writer for Seek & Strike Collective covering the beat on New Mexico United. Follow him on Twitter and join in on the conversation@SethBiddulph